<p>I was answering oldfort’s question about a different student who wasbor here to non US citizens.</p>
<p>There are two ways this UK student could be a citizen.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Born in the U.S…citizen regardless of the citizenship of her parents.</p></li>
<li><p>Born abroad with at least one parent who is a citizen.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>To be honest, it sounds like the family has really not lived in the U.S. for 30 years…at least. OP says that is when the home was purchased.</p>
<p>I was born in Belgium to an American mother and British father, so that clears that up!</p>
<p>My mom and dad met when my dad spent a year at Harvard - they were married the same year, 30 years ago, when they moved back to the UK because my dad wanted to do postgrad studies here.</p>
<p>My mom fills out a tax return every year, as any American does, but she doesn’t pay taxes in the US - they’re cancelled because she works abroad.</p>
<p>To the OP, You are not “officially a citizen of New Jersey” just because you registered to vote there. Unfortunately, it seems like you are one of those American citizens who have no home state for college tuition purposes. </p>
<p>As others have pointed out, each state sets its own rules as to what constitute a “resident” for tuition purposes, and for New Jersey, legal residency is governed by New Jersey Administrative Code 9A:5, which requires that individuals be domiciled in the state for 12 months before becoming eligible for in-state tuition. Domicile is defined as the place where a person has his or her true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which, whenever he or she is absent, he or she has the intention of returning. Dependent students under the age of 24 are generally presumed to be domiciled where their parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are domiciled. So New Jersey would consider your domicile to be London and you would not be eligible for in-state tuition in NJ.</p>
<p>If you are determined to attend college in the US, you will need to look at lower-cost schools that fit your budget (remembering that you will have to pay the out-of-state tuition at any public schools). You might also consider private schools where you might qualify for generous merit aid (i.e., you are in the top 10 - 20% of the applicant pool). Your family’s financial need will likely be considered on the same basis as a US-based family with similar income and assets.</p>
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<p>That is good! I hope she includes your dad’s income on it as well. That will be required when you file the FAFSA. Both your mom’s and dad’s incomes will be used to determine your eligibility for need based aid. This would be true at schools requiring the Profile as well…income and assets from both parents.</p>
<p>But truthfully, from what you’ve put here, you will not likely qualify for need based aid at most schools.</p>
<p>As others have mentioned…you definitely can pay for a college education in the U.S. on $40K per year (which adds together what you said your family can pay and the Stafford loan). BUT you will have to look for schools within that price range. </p>
<p>Off the top of my head…the SUNY schools, U of Minnesota, some of the southern schools (U of South Carolina, the UNC schools but not Chapel Hill). I’m sure there are others and I’m quite sure others will pipe in. </p>
<p>It sounds like you are a senior. If you haven’t already applied to at least one U.S. school that meets your financial criteria, you might want to look into doing so.</p>